Plan B is not the same as the abortion pill: FDA’s new labels

WASHINGTON-

The United States Food and Drug Administration announced on Friday that it will revise the labels of the emergency contraceptive pill, Plan B, which women can take after having sex to prevent pregnancy.

The federal agency said it would remove references on the birth control package that claim, without scientific evidence, that the pill prevents a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus.

The new labels aim to further distinguish emergency contraception – also known as the morning after pill – from abortion pills, which end a pregnancy after a fertilized egg implants in the lining of the womb. ‘a woman.

In a memo released Friday, the FDA clarified that taking Plan B pills is not the same as having an abortion, a fact long understood in the medical community.

« Evidence does not prove that the drug affects implantation or maintaining a pregnancy after implantation, so it does not terminate a pregnancy, » the FDA said in its statement.

The agency added that emergency contraception works the same way as birth control to prevent pregnancy, but contains a higher dose of levonorgestrel. The pill prevents ovulation.

About a quarter of women say they have used emergency contraceptive pills at some point, according to a Centers for Disease Control survey released last year.

Still, concern has swirled that access to emergency contraception like Plan B could be limited in some states, after the US Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to abortion this summer. Nevada’s Republican governor-elect said he would consider banning the pill during a debate this year. School clinics in Idaho also banned the pills under a law banning public funding of « abortion-related services » last year.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved Plan B for use up to 72 hours, or three days, after unprotected sex. Women can get emergency contraception over the counter.